Of Pet Shops and Oceans
by Candied
Summary: He'll never survive! Demyx claimed, moving his arms about animatedly. I wasn't quite sure that Demyx was right, but the sight of his tears was too much for me to oppose. I had to do something. [AU] [Zemyx] [Shounenai] For X fuji X


Author's notes: I know, I said nothing more but Deranged for now, but I saw this challenge in X fuji X's profile, and I couldn't help but make a oneshot for her. I was immediately inspired to give Demyx and Zexion a little love, and promptly sat down to write this.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. If I did, they would be my love slaves and I would refuse to share them with the rest of the world. Be thankful that they belong to sqeenix.

Warning: This is boy on boy love. If you don't like that, then press the back button now.

Dedication: For X fuji X, for sticking with me even though I dissapeared.

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**Of Pet Shops and Oceans**

Atlantica is a quiet little town, the town I've spent all my nineteen years of life, save when I'm off at our state's capital for college. It's one of those towns where everyone knows eachother, is never mentioned as a location on the weather channel, and gossip is the highlight of many an old lady's afternoon tea with her friends. Many, meaning the six old ladies in town.

I've always enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere of this little ocean-side town, because everyone here knew who I was, and therefore knew that I was all but anti-social, save my friend Larxene, and that I preffered to be left alone. Yes, living in a town who's population was scacely more than a leaf was a treat for me, and I'd have it no other way.

Let me introduce myself, my name is Zexion, the one loner in this happily buzzing residence, where people collect in the town's center to mingle and ask about people's family members politely, though they saw them in church the other day. I'm the one guy here who doesn't go to church, because I don't believe in God. Sorry if I offended you, but I just don't believe in being a hypocrite, because I'm homosexual, which is definately a Christain no-no.

Anyway, on the day in question, I was strolling silently alongside Larxene as we walked toward the town's center, said blonde rambling on about the vengence she'd get on some classmate of hers from college, who'd tried to bed the guy she liked... Marley, or Marlucious... something or other. I wasn't really paying attention.

As we walked, Larxene nodded politely to the people who aknowledged her; which it had taken years of yelling from her parents to get her to do, and finally we found ourselves amongst the family-owned shops lining the green.

I, with my hands in my pockets, was staring at the sidewalk beneath my feet, when I heard something interesting come from Larxene's mouth.

"Is that a new shop?"

Now, I'm not a particularly big fan of shopping, and so normally talk of a store would never peak my interest. However, in my small little town, a new shop was a big change, and change was not a regular occurance around here. So naturally, I looked up, and took view of the place Larxene was pointing to.

The building in question had once been a small diner owned by the nicest old woman in town, who had been able to cook better than anyone I've ever known. She was famous for her beef stew and her pies, and had quite a success with the little place before she died a year ago.

But now, the sign above the shop had been painted a light blue, with pretty golden lettering proudly proclaiming the name of the new business: "Life's Companions". And below it, in slightly smaller letters, "A pet shoppe".

"Let's check it out," Larxene mused, walking towards it. I nodded my agreement, following along behind her with curiosity.

A tiny bell above the door jingled as the two of us entered, and a boy, maybe a year younger than myself, looked up from his magazine and grinned at me from a blue colored-counter.

I couldn't help but freeze at the sight of him. He was slightly taller than I, with sandy golden hair that was styled in a mullet that oddly enough seemed to work for him, and the most intense blue eyes that made me immediately think of the Carribean. He was dressed in a black hoodie, with the word "Billabong" written across it in stylish letters, and from what I could see over the counter, some loose-fitting blue jeans. A hemp necklace decorated with shells hung around his neck like a choker, and I instantly thought of calling his sense of style "city sufer", because that was just the kind of air he gave off about himself.

"Hey there, you guys looking for a pet?" His voice was almost like a song, though it definately revealed his age.

Larxene shook her head, glancing around the place. "I don't think so, but do you mind if we take a look around? It's not often that something new comes to Atlantica."

He smiled, and shook his head. "I don't mind at all."

I tore my gaze away from the gorgeous teen, to finally look at what was surrounding me. There was a cage with several ferrets, many tanks of fish lining the wall, lizards, snakes, rats, and hampsters in their own tanks and cages, and a kennel with two dogs, a smaller one with a few kittens.

I walked over to the ferrets and looked inside at them, as a few of them played with eachother, and others slept. If I were more effeminate, I might say they were cute.

"Aren't they adorable?" The man behind the counter asked, coming over to look at them as well. "I think they're sweet little creatures, but you have to bathe them a lot, or they start to smell."

I nodded, allowing a half-grin to cross my features, as I turned my attention to the male, as Larxene pet one of the cats through a hole in the kennel. "You're new here, aren't you?" I questioned, though the answer was obvious.

"Yeah," the boy replied, "My parents and I just moved here from South Beach. They own this store, actually. My name is Demyx."

Do I have good judgement, or what?

"Zexion," I replied, offering a hand.

He shook it lightly, with that ever so smooth skin of his, giving me a wide grin. "I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to meet anyone that lived here. Everyone's been giving me weird looks."

"It's because you're the new guy," I replied, "Don't take it to heart. They'll warm up to you eventually."

Larxene gave me weird looks from over by the cats, because it was the most she'd ever heard me say all at once to anyone other than her. I think she thought I had a fever.

Larxene and I left about half an hour later, after I'd listened to Demyx talk about his old home for a while, neither of us leaving with a new animal companion.

"What's up with you?" She asked me, as we rounded the corner to our street. "You didn't ignore him like you do everyone else."

I shrugged. "He's new here, he's probably lonely, right?"

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The next day was Sunday, and after my parents and Larxene and her family had gone off to church, I left for a walk into town, deciding to meet up with them after they were finished, and moved toward the gazebo on the green. Until, that is, I saw the open sign on Life's Companion's.

I sauntered towards the building, and grinned when I saw the blonde reading a magazine inside. Stepping through the door, the chime of the bell alerted him to my presence, and he immediately smiled at me and stood up straight.

"Hey, you're not in church?" Demyx asked, raising an eyebrow. No doubt he'd noticed the fact that this place became a ghost town on this Sunday morning.

"I'm the only one in town that doesn't go," I replied, sticking my hands in my pockets.

"I guess there's two of us, now."

We spent the time looking at the different kinds of fish, Demyx pointing them out to me and telling me what species they were, as well as a little bit about where they lived and such. As it turns out, Demyx was a fan of all water's creatures, for he believed that water was his specialty. He wanted to be a marine biologist.

"Do you see that little clown fish? The one with one who's stripe is thinner than all the rest?" he asked, doing his best to point out the moving creature amongst all the others.

When it caught my eye, I nodded. "Yeah, I see him."

"I named him Bernie. I want to take him home, but my parents say that my aquarium is to full as it is. But, I really like him. He follows my finger when I move it along the glass- watch!"

Sure enough, as the sandy blonde moved his finger across the transparent barrier, Bernie followed alongside it, and Demyx's smile grew wider.

"I wish I could take him home. I think he should have a bigger tank than that one. Poor little guy, there's so many other fish he has to share with."

I agreed, and watched the small fish for a moment or two longer. I don't particularly like fish, but Demyx was obviously concerned for this one in particular, and my being horredously attracted to him made me want to help.

"Well, what if I bought him, and gave him a nice big tank to live in, and you can come visit him when you're not here? I wouldn't mind at all."

The surfer boy's eyes lit up, and he gave me a toothy grin. "Really? You like fish!?"

Fish, as far as I'm concerned, are ugly, dirty little creatures that shit in the same water they drink/breathe. However, when Demyx looked at me like that, I couldn't help but nod my head.

That day, I left with Bernie, and a hundred and fifty dollars worth of food, tank equiptment, and decorations for Bernie's new living space. Who says I never do anything for anyone else?

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Weeks went by, and Demyx would come over to my house when he got off of work to visit Bernie and play video games with me, or play me a tune with his interesting blue sitar. Every time I saw him at my front door with a smile, I found myself falling deeper and deeper into a hole for this boy, as he would most likely never return my affections. I mean, Demyx was a bit feminine, alright... but he wasn't _gay_.

However, when I opened my door on this night, I was not greeted by the handsomely goofy grin of my favorite sandy blonde, but instead his pretty blue eyes were filled to the brim with tears that were threatening to fall.

My eyes widened, and I moved aside to let him in. "Demyx, what's wrong?" I asked, voice becoming soft in an effort to soothe him.

"Deryl..." he replied, the tears then pouring from his eyes, as he pressed them with his fists in an effort to stop them. "My parents said that Deryl was too much of a threat of salmonella to keep in the shop anymore... so they're going to send him into the wild."

I stared at him for a moment, unaware at first of whom he was speaking. Slowly, the image of a western painted turtle came to mind, and I frowned to show my own concern for the creature without words.

"He'll never survive!" Demyx claimed, moving his arms about animatedly. "He's been domestic for too long!"

I wasn't quite sure that Demyx was right, but the sight of his tears was too much for me to oppose. So I hugged him close as he cried, wishing there was something I could do to help his poor turtle friend.

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Love makes people do stupid things, and by this time, I think it was safe to say that I was definately in love with the sandy-haired petshop keeper. So on the next night, I followed Demyx's parents in my car, just far enough away so they wouldn't see that I was following them, as they drove to a pond on the outskirts of out little town.

I parked in a clearing a good distance away, and walked carefully between the surrounding trees and shrubs to make sure they wouldn't notice me. I watched as they took Deryl from a box, and set him in the pond, before they drove away.

When I could no longer hear the engine of the car, I moved to the pond's edge, looking for a sign of the turtle who had submerged itself in its depths, but I saw nothing.

Clueless as for what to do, I bent at the water's edge, and cupped my hands around my mouth, calling for the creature. "Deryl!"

When I remembered that turtles are not, in fact, dogs, and realized how ridiculous I looked, I stopped, still searching for a sign of the creature. A few moments later, a tiny head popped above water, and my prayers were heard.

"Hey! Come here!" I called to him, motioning with my hands.

However, turtles are apparently not the sort to understand the meaning of such things, and again he went under water. Cursing inwardly, I decided that the only thing to do was to get in the water after him, before he swam too far away from the area he'd just been.

So, because time was of the essence, I moved into the water, the pond becoming deeper with each step, and my boots stuck in the mud below. When I'd reached where I'd seen his head, I was submerged up to my chest, but no matter where I moved my hands, they didn't feel the hard touch of a shell.

Sighing, I glanced around me for another sign of him, but had no luck for another few minutes, though they felt like hours.

My boots had filled with the murky water, my clothes were soaked and reeked of the freshwater's stench, and my patience was wearing thin when Deryl's head finally rose again. With haste, I swam furiously towards the creature, only to have him swim away from me again.

It took several more tries before I got hold of him, and I had to dive underwater to finally do so. I got all sorts of pond life in my hair and on my person, probably ruined my clothes, and lost some dignity somewhere before I finally trudged back towards my car- boots squishing- with a turtle in my hands.

I got into my car, smelling of mud and pond plantlife, and stuck Deryl the turtle in the passenger's seat as I buckled up and inserted my keys.

"I don't suppose seatbelts are required for you, hmm?" I asked the turtle with a bitterness, as my wet hair stuck to my face and I drove back to my house.

When I arrived, I agitatedly removed Deryl from the car, and brought him inside. No one was home, which was just as well, seeing as how I looked terrible, so I glanced around me as I realized one vital mistake I'd made in my rescuing of Deryl.

I didn't have a tank for him to look in.

My eyes caught the sight of the kitchen sink, and improvisation came to mind. Setting Deryl down on the floor for a moment, I filled the sink with water, and turned a large bowl upside-down in it so that Deryl could crawl up onto it should he feel the need.

No sooner had I placed the turtle in the water than a knock came from the door. Without thinking about my appearance, I moved to it, opened, and found the sight of a very sad Demyx looking down at his feet. "Hey..." he murmered.

"Come in," I said with a grin, and it wasn't until he'd followed me into the kitchen that he finally noticed my body was soaked, there was plant life in my hair, and I was covered in mud.

"What the hell happened to you?!"

I smiled, and watched as oceanic eyes looked at the Deryl, who was now resting ontop of the bowl.

"And why is there a turtle in the sink?"

His eyes moved between myself and the creature, and I couldn't help but give a pure smile. "I rescued him for you."

Silence.

"I love you, Zex!"

In the next moment, arms were thrown around my frame, and Demyx's lips were pressed roughly against mine. Just as quickly as it happened, Demyx had pulled away, blushing, staring at the floor with embarrassment.

"But... Demyx... you're not gay..." I replied in shock, though there was a complete elation in my heart.

"Dude... I'm from South Beach. That's like... the gayest part of Florida!"

I laughed, moving to him slowly, and lifting his chin so he was looking in my eyes. "Well, that's a relief..."

I softly pushed my lips to his own, enjoying the warm and soft folds for a few moments, before I had to pull away.

"Demyx... there's something I should tell you."

"Hmmm?"

"I hate fish."

His only reply was a chuckling kiss, and arms that wrapped around my soaked body. Nothing could have taken away the joy that swelled in me as Demyx's tongue collided with mine, or the way his hands pulled at my shirt.

I'll rescue all the pets in that store, if it'll bring me more times like this.

-Fin-

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Author's ending notes: Cute, ne? I hope you liked it, especially you, fuji! Make sure to review, or else Bernie and Deryl get it! +

D:


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